‘How can anyone see into the past?’
‘Swim with me and I’ll show you.’
‘Why not?’ said Kaelin Ring.
Chara pulled off her green woollen shirt and leggings and shoes and waded out naked into the cold water. Kaelin stood for a moment watching her. She looked round. ‘Are you going to stand there gawping again, or are you going to swim?’
Sitting down, Kaelin tugged off his moccasins, undressed and followed her. She dived below the surface. Taking a deep breath he followed. The water was clear and Kaelin saw an old pike dart behind some rocks. Chara was just ahead. She paused in her swim and pointed at what, at first, seemed to be a pillar of rock. Kaelin swam closer. It was the head of a colossal statue, half buried in the earth, the head fully twenty feet high. It was of a man with a heavily curled beard. He was wearing a crown. Kaelin’s lungs were straining and he kicked out for the surface.
Chara came up alongside him, and they trod water. ‘Who is it? Connavar? Bane?’ asked Kaelin.
‘The Dweller says it is far older than Rigante history,’ she told him. ‘Further on there are drowned houses of white stone, and many more statues. I found a small square of gold there once. It had engravings on it. The Dweller told me it was a coin in ancient times, used by a race now vanished from the world.’ She looked at him closely. ‘Your lips are turning blue with cold. You need to get out of the water.’
Together they swam for the shore. Kaelin was shivering as he waded to the bank. Chara ran past him and sat down, draping her woollen shirt over her shoulders.
‘Be so good as to dress,’ he said, not looking at her.
‘I’d like to dry off first.’
Kaelin struggled into his trews, and donned the buckskin shirt. ‘I’ll wager that feels uncomfortable,’ she said. ‘All that water dripping on your skin.’
‘Aye, it is,’ he agreed, buckling on his belt.
‘Why does my nakedness bother you?’
‘It is not seemly.’
She laughed. ‘That is a Varlish concept, Kaelin Ring. How many more of their ways have you drawn into your heart?’
‘What do you mean?’ he asked, finally turning towards her.
‘The Keltoi have never been ashamed of their bodies. But the Varlish teach of the evil of nakedness.’
He sat down and looked away towards the lake. Then he sighed. ‘I think you are right,’ he said. ‘We live among them and we absorb their ways without even knowing it. We think we are holding to our culture, but it is an illusion. Clan children are born and no-one gives them soul-names. We buy our clothes from Varlish stores, we learn in Varlish schools, and we no longer speak the language of our ancestors. They are stealing our souls and we do not notice.’ He fell silent for a while. Then he glanced at her and smiled. He looked suddenly young, she thought; almost vulnerable. ‘I am sorry I spoke like a Varlish. You are very beautiful. The most beautiful girl I have ever seen.’
‘Have you seen many naked women?’
‘I haven’t seen any – well, until now.’
She laughed. Then it is not much of a compliment, Kaelin Ring.’
‘I guess not, Chara Jace.’
She lifted the woollen shirt over her head and slipped into it. Then she shivered. ‘That’s better,’ she said. ‘Tell me, why did my name seem to upset you?’
At first she thought he had ignored the question, for he looked away once more. When he spoke his voice was heavy with sadness. ‘I knew someone with that name,’ he said at last. ‘A sweet girl. She wanted to walk with me to the Beltine Feast.’
‘She was smitten by you?’
‘I think that she was. Because of it she was raped and murdered by two Varlish.’
The words hung in the air between them. Chara did not know what to say. Rape was a rare crime in the highlands, but to murder a woman? As the silence grew she knew she had to say something to break it. ‘I am so sorry, Kaelin. Did you love her?’